Any treatment for anxiety

As a yoga teacher, you might expect me to tell you that meditation is the answer. And, although meditation has absolutely been shown to reduce symptoms of anxiety, many people who suffer from anxiety get anxious just thinking about the idea of meditation. Instead, non-invasive brain stimulation (i.e., direct neurofeedback) might bring more immediate relief of symptoms, creating space in the mind to contemplate meditation and even begin to practice it!

As someone whose nervous system tends to lean towards anxiety, my yoga practice including but not limited to pranayama, meditation and self-inquiry has brought me much peace over years of practice. Yet, when chaos would begin to brew as it will and I would begin to feel a sense of overwhelm, I would greet my fear all over again, like a familiar (yet not comfortable) old friend. I wondered if all of my body-mind-spirit practices would ever be enough to soothe my root chakra to the point of simply accepting fear for what it is – an early warning system meant to guide me to safety.

It wasn’t until I experienced direct neurofeedback that I sensed that shift in my relationship with fear. I came to understand that trying to train the mind when the brain is caught in a deeply patterned dysfunctional loop can only do so much to soothe my nervous system and create new neural connections. Operating from the conscious mind, we quickly discover that making the unconscious conscious is really hard heart work! Awareness brings understanding and understanding creates an opportunity for choice, yet our unconscious mind can throw so many barriers up to prevent such awareness for fear of breaking our hearts.

When we can work with the body directly – specifically the brain – we can address the root source of the problem, circumventing the barriers of the mind while supporting the body’s self-healing abilities. For anyone that has tried acupuncture, this idea may sound familiar. By soothing the fear centers in the brain, the mind begins to notice space where there was none before. Space to consider our experiences (past and present) in a new light with a new perspective. And when we venture into those places of fear, such as chaos, we have a greater capacity and ability to stand in our own power and not get swept up in that sense of overwhelm. From this place of power, we being to experience a greater sense of connection, to our authentic self as well as to the larger collective consciousness, realizing we are not alone.

When we truly can accept that ‘we are not alone’ into our belief system and we add ‘interdependence’ and compassion to our value system, the fears of uncertainty and unpredictability that underlie anxiety can be replaced with equanimity. With the help of direct neurofeedback, I no longer found myself plagued by the belief that independence is the source of happiness, where shame is abundant when asking for help or support, or the thoughts around needing to be perfect in order to be acceptable and loved, which drove me to exhaustion. Direct neurofeedback appeared to create space in my mind for new beliefs and values much more quickly than psychotherapy and/or yoga alone.

Recent research on non-invasive brain stimulation such as direct neurofeedback in generalized anxiety disorder is beginning to explain such results.

First thing to know is that you're not alone. Just about everyone experiences feeling anxious every now and again. Life can be stressful. I totally get it. Dealing with anxiety is very important because if you are in a heightened state of anxiety for long periods it can develop into a physical ailment and then it becomes another issue that you will need to address. When feeling anxious I would recommend getting in a quiet space and doing some meditation and/or deep breathing - even spending just 5 minutes can sometimes do the trick, and other times it may take longer, and that's okay. If you don't know how to meditate just do your best to be still and focus on your breath. Congratulations you're meditating! You can also try diffusing or simply inhaling calming essential oils like lavender to lower anxiety. Other ideas are: Get out in Nature. Talk to a friend on the phone. Go for a walk. Do some Yoga/Stretches. Listen to calming music. All of these 'tools' should always be at your disposal whenever you are feeling anxious or stressed out. Just do something because as I said, prolonged anxiety can create other health problems and you don't want that - so nip it in the bud quickly, and if I can be of further assistance feel free to contact me.

There are so many things that a person can do for anxiety, but it depends mostly on you as a person. things you can try are...
-self-care (massage, pedicure/manicure, bubble bath, etc...)
-exercise (light walking outside, gym with fun music, etc...)
-meditation (could be sitting listening to a guided meditation or just focusing on one thing and nothing else)
-eating foods that are better for your body
-deep breathing
-positive self talk
-find out what is causing the anxiety (MOST IMPORTANT!!!!)
-so much more!

the hardest thing about anxiety is that it is caused by so many different things for different people and it can also be helped by so many different things but exploring that which causes it can bring a lot of clarity to what you need to do to ease it!

As has already been pointed out, there are many treatments for anxiety. However, I have a few thoughts to add to help whomever might be reading this to help them figure out which treatment might be best.

First, there are two general categories of anxiety - physiological and non-physiological. If your anxiety sources 100% from a chemical imbalance or a food sensitivity, all the meditation and counseling in the world won't do a dang thing. You'll have to craft a physiological solution and then see how much anxiety you have left after you've implemented it.

This could be anything from supplements or medication (not my first recommendation, but there are cases where it's the only solution currently available) to removing certain foods/additives (like caffeine, food dyes, etc) from your diet.

Often, there are physiological components as well as non-physiological components at the same time, which means you'll need to work on a multi-pronged solution. If your anxiety sources from a childhood trauma (which is the most common source of generalized anxiety disorder), all the medication/supplements/dietary changes in the world will hardly do a dang thing. You may be able to manage it to some degree, but anxiety will still rule your world in large part.

This means you'll need to seek out solutions to handle the non-physiological (what we call the MEE space, or Mental/Emotional/Existential) side of anxiety. There are plenty to choose from!

Here are some suggested ways to filter out the veritable landslide of possibilities:

1) Cost. What can you reasonably afford? You may even ask, what do I *need* to afford if your anxiety is truly crushing your entire world and you may even might be facing life-threatening situations due to stress and anxiety.

2) Time to implement the solution. How long will it take to get to your goal? Are you willing to take that time (and the money needed) to get there? Different methodologies will have different time frames.

3) Self-accountability. Do you need support to accomplish the basic assignments you will most likely get? If so, who can support you? Does the program/practitioner have built-in support as part of your price or do you need to create/use your own support system?

4) Practitioner accountability. Can they talk about clients who were helped and stayed helped over long-term without continued sessions? A practitioner who cannot create long-term benefits without continued money being spent on them is no better than a drug. You need to find someone who can create the result you need in a reasonable amount of time, with the understanding that some issues will be, by their nature, long-term issues. This might be complex PTSD, borderline personality disorder, narcissism, etc, but some investigative research may be helpful in finding out what might be considered reasonable.

This is not to say that revolutionary techniques do not exist and cannot create dramatic results in a drastically reduced timeline, but you'll have to feel them out.

5) Ultimately, you'll simply have to experiment! If you aren't sure about a technique after researching the technique and/or the practitioner but have money and time to invest and don't see a better option, try it and see what happens. There is no guarantee in life, and moving forward is the only way to overcome any issue in the first place. If one thing doesn't work, go back to the drawing board and try again, a little wiser this time around.

Another thing to consider is brain frequencies and patterns. Ongoing stress and trauma cause the brain to go into 'survival' mode, making adjustments to help you get thru a particular situation. However, it can then get 'stuck' in a trauma pattern and cause undo anxiety.

People who deal with panic/anxiety are often sympathetic dominant (right side or fight/flight) in their brains OR their higher, faster moving frequencies may be overactivated which makes it harder to relax. Since the brain is the master controller and impacting all areas of our lives it is a great place to start. As Dr. Daniel Amen says: 'When the brain works right you work right, when the brain is troubled you often have trouble in your life.'

Where is the anxiety coming from? Who does it belong to? Now old were you when it began. Do you want it to go away or is it serving something in your life? I like playing with these questions with anxiety. A question opens up awareness. Anxiety or any condition in the body has an energetic link. Asking questions helps gain awareness around the energetic link. Then there is Reiki. Some times Reiki can ease anxiety. It has a way of deeply relaxing the body so your body's wisdom can take over and regulate it back to a state of homeostasis. Sometimes I've seen anxiety just go away in clients. Other times Reiki can bring up something from the subconscious to the conscious level because there its awareness can be of service in your life. Rieki is Spiritually Guided Life Force Energy. It has an intelligence that is beyond our awareness in these bodies. It is exciting when Reiki assists us in becoming aware of an energetic link. It can be a time of deep transformation.

Reiki is a great resource for anxiety release. I've seen great success with my clients in this and other related symptoms including insomnia, stress, headache, fatigue and muscle tension. I myself notice a great improvement with both reiki and meditation. There is a short version of my article i published for daocloud called 'Recognizing The Junkmail Of The Mind'. Its a great way to begin understanding the way to relief anxiety by understanding what feeds it. If your interested i can send the full manuscript.

Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy and polarity therapy using the two chair approach can help with anxiety. It is very beneficial

Bach Flower Remedies are amazing at relieving anxiety. They don't mask the symptoms or make you feel numb. They actually resolve the energetic imbalance that creates the negative emotional state. Check out the blog article on anxiety on my website. I will post the article here later

Homeopathy can help. I have an anxiety-relief formula that I prescribe for people and animals. It's amazing.

Craniosacral therapy is very helpful for nervous system quieting. Try Body Slow Low Loop technique. You can find this on energyschool.com

Eliminate caffeine. Avoid as much as possible the things that irritate you. Both those may be tough, but do your best. Try Craniosacral Therapy for calming your nervous system. You can find a therapist in your area at upledger.com

I find that many times that by increasing Vitamin B's helps the body rid itself of lactic acid that often causes anxiety, panic attacks and depression. Some foods that contain Vitamin B are: Liver, Molasses, Nutritional Yeast Flakes, Avocado, etc. Sometimes its necessary to supplement a sub-lingual B Complex along with food. Make sure you are drinking plenty of liquid also.

There are many things and its different for each person and what would work best for you. There are many reason anxiety happens as well and what you need and what works may shift as time goes on. Having anxiety myself, I have a unique insight to help others. Overcoming anxiety however is not hard, it's a very conscious effort. I conduct in person, and phone sessions. Skype can be an option as well.

This answer is going to sound unusual, but this is what I do for a living. I have been a Certified Past Life Regression Therapist for 12 years and have written three books on the subject. Many of my clients come to me because of unexplained anxiety. Many times the anxiety is coming from trauma from events in past lives and cannot be understood by the present lifetime. By taking the client to a slightly altered state of hypnosis, we can tap into their subconscious mind and the higher consciousness will take the client to scenes from past lives that are causing the anxiety today. Once the client sees it from the perspective of their present life, they are able to process the trauma and release the pent up anxiety they have been feeling.
I conduct the sessions in person, over Skype or over the phone. Sessions are recorded and the client can go back later after the session to listen once more to what they experienced. It can be life altering.

These are all great tips. Also, assessing your current gut health. Are you absorbing you foods you're eating? What environment are you in while you're eating?
E.g Are you driving, watching t.v, on the go as you're eating? How many times you're chewing? Being present and mindful as you eat. How do you feel an hour after you've eaten?
Your brain health and gut health are linked. Assessing your current digestion will help as well!

Anxiety is closely connected to the hormone leptin.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24007473
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4057895/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3296868/

Leptin is a hormone released by your fat that controls all energy metabolism in the body. Clinically, I have found that leptin is closely tied to the level of RT3 on laboratory tests. However, this is not a requirement and altered thyroid function and inflammation to varying degrees can alter leptin signalling. Normalizing leptin involves:

1) Eating a seasonal diet, with adequate proteins, fats, and carbohydrates, as well as the appropriate proteins, carbohydrates, and fats.
2) Having proper light exposure (adequate sunlight, as well as reducing harmful blue light from LED/fluorescent lights, especially in the evening)
3) Having a proper circadian rhythm (sleep in the evening hours, awake during daylight hours, routine and evenly-spaced meals).

Additionally, it is necessary to avoid inflammatory foods and normalize any subacute microbial issues/heavy metals within the body. I have found EMF exposure to be a trigger to anxiety. In people with extreme EMF sensitivity, I have found herbs like alaria, or chanca piedra to be beneficial, in addition to p-5-p (activated B6).

I have found supplements such as l-theanine, pharmaGABA, phenibut, valerian, CBD isolate, rhodiola, ashwaganda, kava kava, and some b vitamins (specifically B5 and B6), l-tryptophan, 5-htp, and albizia. Usually it is just one or two of the above mentioned, depending on the underlying issues.

If you have any additional questions, feel free to contact me.

Have you tried CBD oil for your anxiety?

I am in agreement that exploring the triggers of anxiety is useful, as well as mindfulness-based practices. My personal favorite is EFT tapping (you can find research on the use of EFT for anxiety at https://www.eftuniverse.com/research-studies/eft-research#anxiety). I also like some others, such as the Sedona Method, that focus on meeting anxiety with compassion.

As Christine Erickson also mentioned, if the roots of anxiety lie in trauma, some of these practices may be triggering. If this is the case, it can be very helpful to work with a counselor or other practitioner who can gently support effective methods of addressing these roots.

To add to the comments already presented, also make sure you are well hydrated. If you are not consuming enough water, the resulting dehydration can present in many ways, including what feels like a non-specific anxiety. And remember that coffee, soda, etc. do NOT replace water in your diet. Rule of thumb is 1 ounce of water per 2 pounds of body weight, every day.

As mentioned above, there are many reasons a person experiences anxiety. Investigating the source of anxiousness can be helpful, as well as mindfulness or meditation practices. Anything you can do to calm the nervous system. So many of us are running on fumes that we sometimes forget simple, every day, strategies to calm our bodies.

Hypnotherapy can be a very useful tool to help with your anxiety. Usually our anxiety has been triggered in some way and in a hypnosis session you can access your subconscious programming to relieve that trigger. It can also help you to feel relaxed and to anchor that feeling so that when you start to feel anxiety you can use your anchor to recall and allow that state of relaxation to fall over you. Anxiety is connected to an over active Amygdala and an effective way to calm the Amygdala is with Frankincense oil. The scent allows the Amygdala to release the emotional attachment to triggers.

Classical Homeopathy is a powerful tool for anxiety. Sometimes the person knows exactly what the trigger is, and in other cases the individual has no idea why he/she is feeling anxious and has tried several calming approaches, but still has anxiety. Homeopathy can help. A qualified homeopath will investigate how you are specifically experiencing your anxiety and the details of the onset. Other specifics of any other health issues are also part of understanding the whole person so that a carefully chosen remedy can stimulate a correction in your vital force. A homeopathic remedy addresses an energetic disharmony. I have seen homeopathy work like a charm in many anxiety cases. It is important to see a classical certified homeopath with the appropriate training to handle a chronic situation. If you do not have one in your area then video calls like Skype are used often.

There are many reasons people experience anxiety, and this can determine what might be most helpful in dealing with anxiety.

Mindfulness has been shown to be helpful in decreasing anxiety. However, if your anxiety is related to unresolved trauma, you will want to proceed with caution - beginning a mindfulness practice has the potential to trigger trauma responses, so this may need to be addressed first if this is the case. If not, a daily practice of mindfulness can help significantly.

The amount of time for a meditation practice to be helpful varies from one person to another. Some find that 10-15 minutes a day is enough to take their anxiety to a level that is manageable. Others need longer, and may need to take supplements as well to get to that point.

There are more things that can contribute to or decrease your anxiety, but this is a really good option that has helped many people. I hope this helps!